Handicap parking thief lost his disability in store

I wrote not long ago about people stealing the reserved handicap parking space in front of a Coplay woman's home, as well as broader issues involving people's ignorant assumptions and behavior.

This generated reaction that included one truly bizarre anecdote, and I wanted to share some of those comments. First, I want to clarify one point about reserved spaces.

Unlike handicap spaces in parking lots and near public buildings, reserved spaces for specific residences must be approved by the local municipality. They are placed as close as possible to the residence.

Nonetheless, anyone with a handicap placard has the legal right to use that space, although they shouldn't.

"While it may be offensive, it is not illegal," explains Amy Beck, executive director of the Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living. "The only exception is if the city/borough/municipality would tie a residential parking permit to the space. In this scenario, I would have the space outside my home, and have a sticker numbered to my space, with the number or permit notice also posted on the HP parking place."

In any event, as Beck pointed out in the earlier column, that space may be the lifeline that allows this person to live independently. So park somewhere else.

I wanted to share two responses that focused on handicap spaces in public lots. Here's the first:

"Because I have a handicapped placard for my vehicle, I become angered when I see non-HP cars taking those spaces," this reader wrote. "I also have another gripe: misuse of handicapped parking places in shopping centers. Nothing gets my blood pressure up more than watching people come from a grocery store, empty their carts and then wheel those carts into a handicapped space or the striped area between those spaces instead of taking them to the cart corral. I have even seen cars parked in the striped areas.

"On a few occasions I have said something to the offenders, usually along the line of 'I hope you are never in need of a handicapped spot and find it filled with carts.' I have had responses from both ends of the spectrum.

"I think the best solution I have seen was at a store in Missoula, Mont. There they had several HP spaces close to the building, and next to them was the cart corral separating the handicapped parking from the general parking. No excuse that the cart corral was too far away, and it even made it convenient for handicapped shoppers."

Be aware that when you block those striped areas, either with your shopping carts or by parking over the line, you may be preventing people with wheelchair lifts, for example, from using them. That buffer area can be important for some people as they get in and out of their cars.

This other email offers an extreme case of nondisabled people who park in handicap spaces. These include people who are taking advantage of another family's member's plates, although I should caution that some disabilities — heart conditions, for example — may not be immediately obvious, so don't jump to conclusions. Anyway, this one is over the top:

"Your column today, about handicapped parking spaces, reminded me of an incident several years ago," wrote the reader.

"I was driving into the parking lot of a grocery store and noticed that the car in front of me had pulled into a handicapped space next to the door. The license plate did not indicate that the driver was handicapped. I watched as the driver, a man in his mid-30s, got out of the car and walked to the door bent over nearly 90 degrees, walking slowly and shuffling his feet. I thought nothing of it until I saw the same man in the store pushing a cart, appearing to be in perfect health, no longer bent over, walking slowly or shuffling his feet.

"At the checkout lane he was two people in front of me. As he walked out of the store with his cart, appearing to be perfectly healthy, he suddenly took on his other persona and as he walked toward his car, was bent over, walking slowly and shuffling his feet. I regret not saying anything to him. On the other hand, I might have said something not printable.

"I have often seen cars, with handicapped plates, parking in handicapped spots and the driver not appearing, outwardly, to be handicapped. While I imagine some are legitimate, I believe many of these people are perfectly healthy and happen to borrow a car belonging to a family member or friend who is handicapped and takes advantage of the plate.

"I hope that all people who find nothing wrong with parking in a handicapped spot are at some time in the future in need of such a spot, and someone else has taken it."

•I've been arrested more than once by the Grammar Police. My most recent column on this subject was a case in point. I mistyped one of the comments I received dealing with a technical grammar issue, rendering it wrong, and a reader called me on it

What the column should have said, referring to a common grammatical problem, was: "Confusion over subjunctive usage, or subjunctivitis: If I was a rich man, etc." I typed it as "subjective."